Retrospective penalty: How Oscar Piastri saw the F1 crash with Arvid Lindblad

In the chaotic closing stages of the Formula 1 race in Mexico, Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) collided on lap 59. Lindblad was unable to continue – and Piastri was later handed a retrospective time penalty.

Here’s what happened: At the restart following the red flag caused by Bottas’s serious crash, Lindblad was in 7th place, with Piastri behind him in 8th. Just 13 laps after the red flag interruption, the fateful collision between Lindblad and Piastri occurred: The Australian rammed into the back of the Briton whilst battling for 7th place through the first two corners. For Lindblad, the race was over. Along with double yellow flags, the safety car was briefly deployed. Although Piastri’s car also sustained damage, he was able to finish the race and crossed the line in seventh place.

This is how Oscar Piastri saw the incident

Speaking about the incident immediately after the race, Piastri said: “I was actually trying to get past on the inside, but then he blocked my path very, very late, so I had to swerve to avoid him and ended up on the outside. From there, I tried again, but of course he pushed me quite far outwards, and that’s when I knew I wouldn’t be able to complete the overtaking manoeuvre. So I tried to pull back in, but he pushed me so far outwards that I couldn’t go any further to the left, and eventually our wheels got tangled up – and that was the end result.”

The stewards had already launched an investigation into Piastri during the race. However, due to the large number of incidents, the incident was only assessed after the race and following hearings. Piastri was found to be at fault for the crash and given a 10-second penalty. As a result, he lost 7th place and slipped out of the points (read more about the retrospective penalties here).

Piastri, who at the time of the interview was not yet certain he would be penalised, said: “It’s always a tricky situation. I was right up against the kerb and was there because I wanted to avoid a collision from the outset. So it was a tricky situation, but I think that when we actually made contact, we were both driving in a straight line. It wasn’t as though I’d tried to cut in at Turn 2 and force my way into a place where I didn’t belong. I tried to give up the position and had already gone off the track, so there wasn’t really much else I could do.” The penalty was handed down anyway...

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